


Sharp Edges

by frangipani



Series: Boundaries [2]
Category: Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Friends With Benefits, canon shmanon i do what i want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-27
Updated: 2016-05-27
Packaged: 2018-06-07 01:36:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6779926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frangipani/pseuds/frangipani
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Expect the worst and you'll never be disappointed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sharp Edges

**Author's Note:**

> Follows some points from Better Lost than Found aka is anchored in a post TTT timeline with Mara sticking around and training for a while. Couldn't resist playing in that sandbox.
> 
> If you're thinking this is all build up to earning a legit femdom tag, you are 100% right.
> 
> (Yes, I know I should be occupied with Velvet Gloves, but I'm still ironing out stuff there. Meanwhile, have some angst with a side of smut. It's been sitting for too long in my drafts folder.)

“They keep pressuring me to give out information for free. Names and locations. Ship IDs! They’re still smugglers!” Mara all but slammed her glass on the table. “If the New Republic keeps pushing, this whole experiment will fall apart.”

Luke winced, although whether it was over what she’d said or her careless treatment of the glass, she didn’t know. “What does Karrde say?”

She grunted. “He’s off in the Outer Rim. I haven’t heard back. He won’t be that much help -- this is a New Republic issue not a smuggler one.”

Luke slid a sympathetic look her way. “Yeah, sounds like it.”

“I’m buying the next round.” She gestured to the bartender.

“I shouldn’t.”

She was in no mood for coy. “You’re not a lightweight.”

“It’s not that--I have to be at Leia’s for dinner in an hour. In this traffic, I won’t make it unless I leave now.”

“Yeah?” The bartender turned to her. 

Just her luck. “Nevermind.”

A wary expression came over Luke’s face as if he were about to do something very dangerous. She read him right because he ventured, “You could come with me.” Quickly, he added, “Leia might have some ideas about how to get the New Republic off your back, she’s been with Han since forever, she ought to know how to navigate the whole smuggler situation.”

Mara let out a laugh. She could just imagine Solo’s smug face, while his wife very calmly contained her confusion at suddenly being the position of helping her out in something as mundane as this, and Luke inordinately pleased through it all at hauling her out of a jam, yet again. 

“I’ll figure it out.” She’d _liked_ threatening pirates and thieves, with them she could have some carry through. You couldn’t shoot a bureaucrat and claim they drew on you first. She was tempted to stay behind and throw back a couple of shots at the hard left her life had taken. 

He frowned. “She could have ideas.” 

“Yeah, but no thanks.” She left the credits on the table and accompanied him out to where he’d left the skimmer. Her own had been left behind near the imperial gymnasium where she’d been training before her general lack of serenity had made her suggest they end early and grab a drink instead.

She stayed silent on the way back. She’d go back to her apartment, send off a report to Karrde, and see what she could come up with. Maybe she could wring some interesting tidbit from a contact to shove one of the bureaucrats off. Probably a good idea to hold off on the shots then, she could end up doing some serious traipsing along Coruscant’s shadiest cantinas before the night was through.

“You could still come over for the company.” Luke broke the silence. “They wouldn’t mind.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. Like a rancor with a bone. “No, thanks.”

“I did want to show you something.”

She cocked her head. “That you couldn’t show me at the gym?”

“I left it at home.”

“Of course.” Right on cue, she saw him blush. That had to be the most hilarious consequence of their experiment a couple of weeks ago. She’d lost track of how many times she’d made him blush with seemingly innocuous statements. She wasn’t even trying at this point.

But right now that was only mildly amusing. Mara shrugged. His place was not that far from the gym. She could walk back to her skimmer’s landing pad after. 

“Sure, if you have time,” she replied. 

She looked at the passing lights as dusk fell over the Imperial City making the urban sprawl come to life. She hadn’t told him that she’d finally caved in her last message to Karrde.

_This is not working out. I thought that being here would make a difference. It doesn’t. I think I’m better off working remotely._

Would Karrde find it too plaintive? Just a moment of weakness, right after she’d finished off another bout of stonewalling against New Republic functionaries. The lowlight had been some stuffy aide asking whether she _did_ want what was best for the New Republic in a tone that left her no doubt that he’d gleefully gotten a look at her NRI file. Sealed, her ass.

She’d wanted nothing more than an ale with Dankin or to poke Ghent over some obscure piece of smuggler trivia. Luke, well, he’d been stuck in some meeting of some sort and had cancelled on training. The hours had spiraled into forever. As soon as she’d sent the transmission, she’d been tempted to send another telling Karrde she’d changed her mind. It’d just been a bad day. 

They’d been piling up faster than sabacc debts.

Lost in thought, she barely noticed when they’d arrived at his place. She followed him out of the skimmer and into the corridors of his wing of the Imperial Palace, catching a kind of spring in his step that momentarily distracted her. She welcomed the diversion, following him with her eyes as he went into his apartment and called a greeting to his astromech. She stayed in the foyer as he went to get something on the coffee table in his living room. Data cube by the look of it. He waved her over and she sat on the couch next to him. With the flick of a button, a sphere appeared, the blue light of it washing through Luke’s face, darkening his eyes.

“What am I looking at?” she asked, forcing her eyes away from his face and leaning forward.

“The fourth moon of Yavin,” he answered. There was awe in his voice. “That’s where it’ll be."

His future, Mara thought like a blade twisting in her insides. It had arrived. 

“There’s still so much to iron out,” he continued in a hushed voice. “Practical things. There’s an old base there. I think we can still use it, but I’d need to go see. There’s students to recruit,” he smiled self-deprecatingly. “Can’t have an academy without students.”

“When?” is all she said over the sinking feeling at the pit of her stomach.

“I’m not sure. I should go check it out next month. Then, go over what I’d need in terms of facilities. Then gathering candidates...” He paused. “Come with me.” 

Mara shook her head. It was one thing to stay here to finish what she’d started -- against her better judgment. Maybe he could live off good intentions and duty. She couldn’t. Demonstrably.

She was coming to her senses minute by minute.

His face fell and she glimpsed his disappointment for an instant before he shuffled it away. He’d actually thought she’d accept. That blasted lightsaber. One look at it should have made her hightail it onto the nearest transport out of Coruscant. She felt the weight of it at her waist like a stun cuff around her ankle.That would teach her for not putting a moratorium on decision-making until after she was in her right mind. As if her past could ever go as silent as the voice in her head. She'd thought she was beyond naivete. 

“I have things I need to do,” she found herself saying. Because it seemed natural to ask, she continued, “Will you be able to finish my training before you go?”

The shadows on Luke's face deepened. He flicked a switch and the fourth moon of Yavin was gone.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never actually trained anyone as much as I have you. If you did come with me, I was hoping you’d help me teach. We could finish your training there.”

She tamped down on a laugh at the thought of her teaching. 

_This is how you live through being mindfucked, pay attention now..._ No. Too maudlin. Maybe, _this is how you snap a man’s neck._ Better.

Luke was shaking his head and she knew he was making a guess as to her thoughts. Her shielding was airlock tight by now, so he was going off of good old surface impressions and conjecture -- all the more aggravating when he hit on something, but thankfully no luck today. “It would be ad-hoc like this at first, but we’d just have to get through it, and then we can think about structure.” 

There’s no ‘we’. There is ‘you,’ the last Jedi. But she didn’t say it. She made herself say neutrally, “Sounds like you have a lot to do.” 

He frowned. “Will you at least think about it?”

She made herself nod, “Sure," and went to stand up.

“Something wrong?” 

Mara shook her head. “This Smuggler’s Alliance thing, it’s a headache,” she said, and hoped he wouldn’t mention his sister again. Just to be sure, she added, “I have a long night of tracking down contacts ahead of me. Maybe someone knows something I can use as leverage.”

To his credit, he just said, “You have options.”

She did, didn’t she? A galaxy full of them. What was the loss of one? She wasn't suited to it anyway. 

Mara nodded. “I do. But, believe me, I could think of better things to do with my night.”

He actually blushed.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” she bit off. “How you made it through as a fighter pilot with your dignity intact is a mystery.”

He flashed her a lopsided grin with just the right amount of teeth. “Dignity can be overrated.”

Mara raised her eyebrows. Was that an invitation? Damned if she'd let Skywalker up the ante on her. “I’m not disagreeing,” she said carefully. “But you have a dinner to get to.”

“After, then.”

She wanted to curse. He’d got her there. Not that the prospect wasn't appealing, but the way things were going, she was already going to be channeling all her self possession and restraint into not putting blaster holes in a slippery informant or two. Last thing she needed was to end the night like last time, with him wired like he’d drank eight cups of caf, shifting every two seconds, that is, when he wasn’t wrapped up around her like a straitjacket. He might even bring up her training with his typical delicacy, ratcheting an already uncomfortable situation into utter disaster. In fact, she was absolutely certain he’d bring it up. The sensible thing would be to plead work and leave it at that.

But there he was, color rising up his face. “I’ve--I’ve thought a lot about…,” he floundered a bit, stared up at her for rescue, and when none was forthcoming finished with, “us.”

There is no ‘us’, ran the refrain in her head. Only ‘you’. But she murmured, “Have you now?”

“Yes,” he breathed like he wouldn’t dare hope.

She wasn’t sure where it came from, that smile that broke across her face. Mental autonomy was not all it was cracked up to be. She’d been making questionable decisions for a while under her own recognizance and this was no different -- superbly risky, infinitely more so than it had been the first time. They’d had a clearly delineated purpose then.

Mara thought about it for a few seconds, then undid her utility belt, placing it on the table. She plunked herself on his lap, shifted until she was straddling him.

“Now?” he said, eyes widening in surprise.

She turned her head towards the chrono. “We made good time, you have about twenty minutes to make it to your sister’s. You’ll be a little late.” The situation would manage itself just through the limits, it was almost tailor-made to avoid the pitfalls of last time. “And if it’s a loss of dignity you’re going for,” she added with a quirk to her lip. “We’re not going to need any extras.”

What he saw that made him reach towards her face, Mara didn't know, but she slapped the hand away. 

That did catch him briefly off guard and Mara tilted her head up, half expecting him to fold. With Luke, it was either total clarity or inscrutability, not much in between. Watching one change into the other was often a matter of waiting it out. But when the seconds lengthened without him doing anything but meeting her eyes with a measured stare, she flipped her braid over her shoulder. Fine. Inscrutability it was. For now, anyway.

“No Force use. No touching. Clear?”

She told herself that if he said anything vaguely smart she'd laugh and whoosh out into the Coruscant evening like an errant blaster bolt.

He only nodded mutely.

Mara almost added silence to her rules, but thought of his voice as he begged to come and changed her mind. She felt tension coil low in her belly. He might not be so late after all. 

She put a light hand on his shoulder, the other she brought under her shirt. At first confusion filtered through his features. She supposed he thought she was going to pull off the shirt, but instead she slid the hand under her brassiere, pushing the garment up, but keeping the shirt. Her thumb rolled over the nipple, and she saw the exact moment when he realized what she was going for. The blush was back on his face with a vengeance as he hardened beneath her. 

She shifted forward slightly, rubbed against his cock and he drew a quick breath. It felt good enough for her to try it again, even with all this clothing between them, and his hips jerked, bringing in more friction. Vague embarrassment and desire, clear as day, washed through his features. It was a heady combination that made a flush make its way up from the center of her chest up her throat.

She repeated the motion with her other breast, pinching the nipple lightly, teasing it into a sharp peak. As far as caresses went, it was a middling thing, something she wouldn’t really do by herself. But here, as he watched intensely, lips slightly parted, the blue of his eyes reduced to a faint outline on black, her hands on her skin had a new valence, a different feel.

She sighed, closed her eyes, dragged a hand up past her breast, up her chest, up her collarbone to her neck. She opened her eyes, to see his gaze solidly on her hand, her neck. She shifted her hips a little and pulled another gasp from him. She could do it this way, follow the surge and fall of her hips until the pressure in her gave, but the call of novelty pulled her back. 

So that was enough of that, she pulled her hips up slightly, brought the hand at her neck under the waistband of her pants, her underwear. This was the right choice just from the way Luke’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open. She briefly thought about kissing him, plumbing his mouth, but that would be too much, that kiss last time haunted her still. She spread her legs a bit more, the side of her thigh grazing his arm. Even through the fabric of her pants the contact earned her the desired result, his breathing hitched.

She balanced herself with a hand on his shoulder, moved the hand between her legs, tracing a familiar path. She was going for efficiency, but added some theatrics, the fall of her head, several sighs, a faint moan. Those were not true, but he stared heavy and wanting, thrumming with desire like it was a tangible thing, and it made true the damp of her underwear, the slick coating her fingers. The theater was not enough. 

She slid off him and took off her pants and underwear, movements strictly utilitarian. His eyes were still on her, expectant. 

Mara gestured to the couch. “On your back.”

She thought he'd comply quickly, but he still stared at at her. It wasn't an expectant look, not anymore. Not plain want either, though there was more than a bit of that. Maybe he was trying to figure her out, which good luck with that, but there was the chrono to keep in mind. Mara pushed his shoulder off to the side of the couch and climbed back up. His face lit up like a kid on his name-day once she arranged herself, legs spread right over him and she knew she'd read him like a cantina menu even without the Force. She bent her head down, couldn't help smiling a little at his overeager expression. 

She lowered herself onto him, sparing a look at the chrono. She’d done most of the work already, so no matter what -- then his tongue was sliding into her, and she fell forward with a cry, slamming a hand hard against the armrest of the couch, her hips stuttering at the sensation. She’d been expecting nothing, really, but his tongue moved against her clit, pressed against it, swept inside her, and all her plans, all her strategies crumbled in the face of the urgent movement of her hips, the desperate pressure low in her belly.

A small moan escaped him right before she pushed up against his face, the vibration of it wrapping itself around her neck, making her gasp. It was too good to let go, and yet she was already mostly there. And there was nothing polite about the rock of her hips, the way she was fucking his face, but she shuddered, losing her balance a bit, losing the pressure, and felt his hand come up right at her thigh, just below her hip, holding her there. She came hard with a shriek, knees locking around his head, a hand digging into his scalp as she rode out the last bits of sensation before it was too much, before her legs gave. For some precious seconds she did forget about the inevitable disappointment that followed wanting things she didn't deserve. But she was off him as soon as she could be, teetering a little once her feet hit the ground.

Luke was too busy wiping at his face to notice when she got back on the couch. He did notice when she pulled at his pants, and he stammered, “You don’t have--” She cupped him through the fabric, he was half hard, which should move things along, and his hips jerked up against her hand. She spared some irritation at his misplaced chivalry, politeness, whatever that was, as if this were about obligation and not its opposite, and grasped him more fully over the clothing. He grunted and she leaned forward to whisper harshly, “Do you want to come?”

His broken gasp was sufficient answer.

“Then take your pants off.”

She didn’t have to ask again, he lifted his hips and didn’t even manage to get them off entirely before she had her mouth on him. He cried out, hips jutting up, and she withdrew, drawing out a whimper from him. But it was to work him with her hand in quick, rough strokes. The sounds he was making made her want to crawl up his body and ride him until she couldn't remember her own name, but a glance to the tight line of his neck, and she ran into his eyes. The blade was back in her stomach -- the way he looked at her crossed past desire, like she was more than the sum of her parts, like this made sense. She quickened her pace, brought her mouth on him again, no teasing, just merciless pressure and suction to the tempo of her hand, the barest suggestion of teeth, and he was coming with a hoarse cry that had more than a passing resemblance to her name.

Mara straightened up, wiping her mouth. She scanned the chrono, then stood and got her clothing. She went over her shields compulsively while a knot tightened in her chest. It got worse when she picked up her utility belt and clasped it on. She would feel better once she was outside. 

He’d somehow made his way over to her, hand falling on her back, rubbed in circles, and she couldn’t help but shift away. 

She shouldn’t have done that. Like a rancor with a bone. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She summoned the will to look at him. “You’re already late.”

He wrapped an arm around her and she tolerated it, squelching a scream that was building up within. “I could reschedule.”

She flashed him a look. “What for?”

He shrugged. “We could have dinner here.”

She extricated herself away as gently as she could manage and forced a smile. “No love letters, remember?”

For anyone else, the reminder would suffice. Not for him. He just smiled like he knew better. The blade twisted further. She needed to leave. “Dinner is hardly a love letter, Mara.”

She groped for the nearest line she could find. “It wasn’t on the table before this.”

His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

She sighed. It might be true for all she knew. “You think you feel a certain way.” Mara shook her head. “But you don’t. It’s fine. That’s how these things go.” She patted his arm. “I’ll see you later.”

He looked so confused that she almost pitied him. His hand dipped, grasped her wrist. “Let me kiss you.”

She didn’t even have to think of the response. “No. You have to go.”

There was a flash of irritation through the Force. It was strong enough that she sensed it without probing, even though he let go of her hand and just stared at her.

She knew it was her doing. There was a certain care, a certain upkeep that should follow to preempt reactions like this. He’d never have asked to kiss her if she hadn’t skittered away like his touch scalded her. She’d done so well last time.

But now all she could think about was the chrono and the fact that he was due at his sister’s where she waited and his brother in law waited and their children waited. Anger welled up inside her -- how dare someone with so much ask her for _anything_ , even now. This was not about him. She held on to that anger, finally feeling like she could breathe again. 

Maybe that was the point after all. 

“You’re late.” She walked towards the door. “I can let myself out.”

She didn’t get too far. Mostly a few paces down the corridor before he’d fallen into step beside her.

“I'd be an idiot if I believed you cared one way or another about me being late to Leia's," he hissed. "Stop it with the stalling tactics. You’ve had a cloud on you since earlier and it’s not the Smuggler’s Alliance stuff.”

“Leave it alone, Skywalker.”

“You _know_ I won't.” 

“You were perfectly fine leaving it while I was fucking you.” Mara turned to him with a sneer. “But I have a very long night ahead of me and I can't stay in to hold your hand.”

This might have been the best she’d felt all evening, so she stayed rooted to the spot, waiting for him to blush, to pale, for his expression to darken. There was always a sick satisfaction to be had in playing a terrible version of yourself. You always knew exactly where that would take you.

But he just shook his head at her, like it was merely annoying. “I was never intending to leave it alone. But by all means though, keep going, even bad holodrama lines are better than seeing you bite your tongue." He scowled at her. "Why would you do that?”

“Bite my tongue?” Mara huffed, feeling her face grow hot, but the tide had turned and suddenly it seemed more important to get as far away from him as possible.

“I’m guessing it’s because of us--”

“There is no us!” she finally yelled. “There’s you. That’s it.”

Her outburst caught him off guard and she got several feet between them. They were out of the complex now and she was almost jogging, but he was still not going away.

“I’m not going to pretend I understand that,” he called after her. “But I don't think you do either. You have no idea what you want.”

Mara turned on her heel. It had to happen sometime, might as well be now. It would be fitting, wouldn't it? “I'm leaving Coruscant. I asked Karrde to come for me.”

Luke took a step back with a sharp intake of breath, clearly blindsided. Just saying it out loud felt like an admission of guilt, and even after thinking herself inoculated, empty space opened beneath her feet. She only narrowly prevented herself from blurting out the millions of justifications running through her mind. She wouldn’t. If he'd ever expected anything other than disappointment from her, he'd been just as much a fool as she was.

She watched as the initial shock wore off, melting away to a calm acceptance. This was when he could pick up and go back to the future that lay in wait. She'd been nothing more than a detour to nowhere anyway.

“You miss them," he said after a moment, recovering the ground. "And your life.”

Mara looked away. “Being a Jedi...” She shook her head. There were ashes in her mouth. She’d feel better once she were offplanet. “It’s not for me. I’m sorry I wasted your time.” 

He didn’t say anything and she would turn back, but he was close enough that his hand on her shoulder stopped her. She flinched, but didn't move.

“Do you want to finish your training?”

She let out a humorless laugh, fixating on a spot of dirt on her boot. No, she wanted to say. It was just one word. No.

“Not enough to stay here. Or drop everything and go to Yavin 4." It felt like pushing broken glass out of her throat. "If that’s the first test, I’ve--I've failed it.” She made herself look up at him. 

He tilted his head to the side and said, very gently, “That’s not what I asked.”

She stayed silent for several beats, summoning the will to say 'no'. It was right there. 'No' could be more than a lie. It could be safe shelter. The galaxy hadn't done a blasted thing for her when it counted. And if she woke up sometimes with the echoes of someone else's screams in her ears or wrung away the phantom slickness of someone else's blood from her hands, then so be it. The universe was a terrible place. What other answer could there be but 'no'?

Instead, she scoffed, “In a perfect world? Sure. I finish things.” 

He was looking at her as if he were expecting her to say more, and grudgingly, she added, “I meant it when I said I wanted to earn this.” Her hand went to the lightsaber clipped on the utility belt. She unclipped it. “I haven’t. No matter what you said. Now, I won’t.” Impulsively, she shoved it at him. 

There. Just as good as a 'no'.

His eyes widened a bit at the gesture, briefly hollowing out, wringing her out in turn. She just needed to claw her way out of this moment. She'd be fine. It would all be fine. 

But then his eyes focused back on her and he lightly, but firmly pushed her hand back. “I’ll go with you then.”

Mara blinked. “What?” 

“I’m training you.” There was a determined set to his jaw. “Let’s finish the job.”

“You can’t. No.” No. She shook her head. Ridiculous. No. “The academy--”

“Can wait.”

“You--,” she spluttered. No. Not again. Just another opportunity to fail. “You don’t even know when my training will be done.”

“It’s not done yet," he said to her incredulous gawk. "I know that much.”

“You can’t,” she repeated, gritting her teeth.

“Why?" he challenged. "This was important enough to you that you gave up being with Karrde and his crew for it.”

“I didn’t.” Mara pursed her lips. She meant 'wouldn't' -- _couldn't_ \-- but couldn't push the word out. “I didn’t give up anything. By the time you’re off to Yavin 4, I’ll be gone.” 

“Which is why I would go with you," he said as if that was all there was to it. "You said you finish things. I finish things too. The point of the academy is to train Jedi, why would I give up on training you and start from zero with someone else? I don’t even have candidates yet.” 

She shook her head in disbelief. A sleight of hand. Was he really just dismissing that she had given up? “It’s a responsibility.”

“ _Your training_ is my responsibility. I want to finish what we started. It’s worth it to me.” The confidence gave a bit, eyes growing opaque. “But it has to be your choice.”

She didn’t respond and he added sharply. “This _is_ a concession. It’s not going to get any easier down the line. So I’m asking you, do you want to finish your training?”

She closed her eyes. Why should she get a concession? 

“This isn’t about…,” she trailed off, hoping he’d finish for her, but stumbled over the word when he didn’t, “us, right?”

Why would she even want one?

He shook his head, exasperation creeping back into his voice. “No. This is about you.”

She bit her lip. “Your commitments--”

“Are mine. I'll worry about them.”

Mara swallowed and nodded once. 

He stared at her for a moment, eyes gone inscrutable again. "The potential in you is greater than all the things you see as obstacles. Don't get in your own way." He turned, walking back to the complex.

She felt too off kilter to figure out what he meant. It was outrageous that he would do this. Immeasurably stupid. She should call him back and decline. If anything, for the sake of the kriffing galaxy.

All she ended up calling out was, “Karrde’s not just going to give you a free ride, you know."

He turned and grinned at her. “I’ll find a way to make myself useful. Let him know, and comm me with the details later.” 

Mara looked down at the lightsaber she was still holding and clipped it back onto her belt.

She owed the galaxy nothing.


End file.
